


Heartstring

by wiltedneck



Category: Original Work
Genre: Accurate Biological Facts, Biology, Gen, Microfiction, Quest, Reporter, Searching for One's Self
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-06
Updated: 2014-06-06
Packaged: 2018-02-03 14:31:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1747967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wiltedneck/pseuds/wiltedneck
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It is a biological fact that one of the heart's main veins, the <em>ductus arteriosus</em>, collapses with a newborn's first breath. Marie is not quite sure what is missing, but she's determined to find it. (In the microfiction challenge, an author can create a whole, complete fiction (that can, at times, border on prose poetry) in 300 words or less.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Heartstring

Heart String

It is a biological fact that one of the heart's main veins, the _ductus arteriosus_ , collapses with a newborn's first breath. It's no surprise, then, that Marie grew up as most children do: vein-less and hearty. Still, sometimes, after her father would reprimand her for wandering through the house, looking under tables and behind sofas instead of attempting sleep, she'd lie in bed and her fingers would trace little figures on the skin over her ribs, beneath her collarbone.

Instinctively a reporter, Marie traveled constantly. She exposed the world to David Cata, an artist who sewed portraits of his family members into the canvas of his palms using colored thread and a sterile needle. In her article she described his hands as "curiously excavated in a plaintive and desperate attempt to tie those he loves to his physical being." But she found his medium disruptive, and the portraits stilted and awkward.

She followed the story of a 175 million year old beetle, paralyzed in amber. Apparently, this beetle existed alongside the dinosaurs: so said the man with the flickering tongue that she interviewed. Her article quoted Dr. Lizard Tongue's excited declaration that the circulatory system of beetles was "astonishingly and widely unchanged to this day: a testament to the success of low-energy survival strategies!" Apparently, modern beetles still have tiny, beating hearts but no enclosed vessels. Their blood just rolls freely about their organs. Marie thought he made a good case for veins being overrated.

When asked what made Marie so good at her job, her colleagues replied, "She's got a big heart, and she ties up the loose ends of a story." But her organs were perfectly average, and her _ductus arteriosus_ atrophied into a _ligamentum arteriosum_ long ago. Still she searched for what she'd lost, unaware of the biological fact that she would die should she find it.

(Word Count 310)

**Author's Note:**

> This is my third attempt at a microfiction and, as is visible from the word count, I did not quite manage it. If you have any tips for cutting words, let me know.)
> 
> Thanks so much for reading! I'd love any feedback you have.


End file.
